Image data transmission method and apparatus, image data recording method and apparatus

1. An image data transmission method of transmitting a plurality of groups of image data, which image data has an image format in which an amount of data changes with only an amount of change in the image, the method comprising the steps of: determining whether or not a total volume of image data from said plurality of groups of image data that is transmitted through a frequency band at the same transmission timing exceeds a maximum volume that can be transmitted in the frequency band when transmitting image data from a transmitter for transmitting image data or a relay apparatus for relaying image data using common wiring or frequency band having the same transmission wave; and when the total volume from said plurality of groups of image data exceeds the maximum volume, temporally and selectively shifting either forwards or backwards the transmission timing of at least one group of the plurality of groups of image data from among the image data to be transmitted at the same transmission timing within a time span which is undetectable by the human eyes.

2. An image data transmission method of transmitting a plurality of groups of image data, which image data has an image format in which an amount of data changes with only an amount of change in the image, the method comprising the steps of: determining whether or not a total volume of image data from said plurality of groups of image data that is transmitted through a frequency band at the same transmission timing exceeds a maximum volume that can be transmitted in the frequency band when transmitting image data from a transmitter for transmitting image data or a relay apparatus for relaying image data using common wiring or frequency band having the same transmission wave; and when the total volume from said plurality of groups of image data exceeds the maximum volume, temporally shifting forwards or backwards the transmission timing of at least one group of the plurality of groups of image data from among the image data to be transmitted at the same transmission timing within a time span which is undetectable by the human eyes; wherein, when shifting the transmission timing of the image data, a data or image having a high resolution is preferentially time shifted as compared to other data or image data.

3. An image data transmission method of transmitting a plurality of groups of image data, which image data has an image format in which an amount of data changes with only an amount of change in the image, the method comprising the steps of: determining whether or not a total volume of image data from said plurality of groups of image data that is transmitted through a frequency band at the same transmission timing exceeds a maximum volume that can be transmitted in the frequency band when transmitting image data from a transmitter for transmitting image data or a relay apparatus for relaying image data using common wiring or frequency band having the same transmission wave; and when the total volume from said plurality of groups of image data exceeds the maximum volume, temporally shifting forwards or backwards the transmission timing of at least one group of the plurality of groups of image data from among the image data to be transmitted at the same transmission timing within a time span which is undetectable by the human eyes; wherein, as a unit of data forming the image data, the image format comprises a channel code for classifying image channels of the unit of data; a time code for specifying a playback timing of the unit of data; a resolution level representing a resolution of the unit of data; address data representing a position of image data of the unit of data within a screen; and display data for the unit of data.

4. An image data transmission method of transmitting a plurality of groups of image data, which image data is provided with a time code representing a list of time series for each group of data forming the image data and comprising an image format in which an amount of data changes with an amount of change in an image, the method comprising the steps of: determining whether or not a total volume of image data from said plurality of groups of image data that is transmitted through a frequency band at the same transmission timing exceeds a maximum volume that can be transmitted in the frequency band when transmitting at least one group of image data from a transmitter for transmitting image data or a relay apparatus for relaying image data using common wiring or frequency band having the same transmission wave; when the total volume from said plurality of groups of image data exceeds the maximum volume, temporally shifting forwards or backwards the transmission timing of a portion of the image data or at least one group of image data from among the plurality of groups of image data to be transmitted at the same transmission timing; and setting the time code of the corresponding image data to −Δt when the transmission timing is shifted forwards by time Δt, or setting the time code of the corresponding image data to +Δt when the transmission timing is shifted backwards by time Δt.

5. The image data transmission method according to claim 4 , wherein, when shifting the transmission timing of the image data, a data or image having a high resolution is preferentially time shifted as compared to other data or image data.

6. The image data transmission method according to claim 4 , wherein, as a unit of data forming the image data, the image format comprises a channel code for classifying image channels of the unit of data; a time code for specifying a playback timing of the unit of data; a resolution level representing a resolution of the unit of data; address data representing a position of image data of the unit of data within a screen; and display data for the unit of data.

7. An image data transmission method of transmitting image data of different resolutions each in a separate transmission frequency band using a plurality of transmission frequency bands when transmitting image data from a transmitter to a receiver, the method comprising the steps of: demanding or designating a one of the transmission frequency bands for reception from the receiver to the transmitter; transmitting the image data of one of the different resolutions corresponding to the transmission frequency band demanded or designated by the receiver from the transmitter to the receiver; and receiving the image data of the one of the different resolutions at the receiver.

8. The image data transmission method according to claim 7 , wherein, when transmitting image data of different resolutions in separate transmission frequency bands, low resolution image data is transmitted in a low frequency band and high resolution data is transmitted in a high frequency band.

9. The image data transmission method according to claim 7 , wherein low resolution image data is transmitted at a relatively slower transmission speed and high resolution data is transmitted at a relatively higher transmission speed.

10. An image data recording method of recording a plurality of groups of image data on a recording medium, each group of image data representing a different independent program, said image data having an image format in which an amount of data changes with only an amount of change in the image, the method comprising the steps of: when recording image data on the recording medium, determining whether or not a total volume of image data from said plurality of groups of image data that is recorded simultaneously at the recording position exceeds a maximum volume of image data that can be recorded at that reading position; and when the total volume from said plurality of groups of image data exceeds the maximum volume, shifting the recording timing of at least one group of the plurality of groups of the image data from among the image data to be recorded simultaneously.

11. An image data transmission apparatus which transmits a plurality of groups of image data, which image data has an image format in which an amount of data changes with only an amount of change in the image, said apparatus comprising: an input unit which receives the image data transmitted from a transmitter or a relay apparatus for relaying image data using common wiring or frequency band having the same transmission wave; a summing unit which adds the volume of the image data received by said input unit at the same transmission timing; a determining unit which determines whether the total volume of image data from said plurality of groups of image data to be transmitted through a frequency band that is calculated by said summing unit exceeds a specified maximum volume of data which can be transmitted in the frequency band; and a shifting unit which temporally and selectively shifts the timing of transmission of at least one group of the plurality of groups of image data from among the image data to be transmitted at the same transmission timing either forwards or backwards within a time span which is undetectable by the human eyes when said determining unit determines that the total volume from said plurality of groups of image data exceeds the maximum volume.

12. An image data recording apparatus which records a plurality of groups of image data on a recording medium, each group of image data representing a different independent program, said image data having an image format in which an amount of data changes with only an amount of change in the image, said apparatus comprising: an input unit which receives the image data; a summing unit which adds the volume of the image data received by said input unit at the same transmission timing; a determining unit which determines whether the total volume of image data from said plurality of groups of image data that is calculated by said summing unit exceeds a maximum volume of image data that can be recorded at that reading position; and a shifting unit which temporally shifts the recording timing of at least one group of the plurality of groups of the image data from among the image data to be recorded simultaneously when said determining unit determines that the total volume from said plurality of groups of image data exceeds the maximum volume.